Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 3210 OCTOBER 2016 • FOGHORN FOGHORNFOCUS: SECURITY “We now have five Gladding-Hearn boats. They are the 747 of our water-taxi fleet. They’re dependable, well built, and our customers really like them. The yard is also easy to work with, responsive and stands behind their product.” Tom Fox, Chief Executive Officer New York Water Taxi Gladding-Hearn all-aluminum construction, Incat-Crowther Designs, LOA 72', beam 27', 149 passengers, speed 26 knots with 12 metric tonnes of deadweight. It takes experience to integrate customer detailing and guaranteed speeds, backed by dependable customer service. All at a price you can afford. If you’re looking to build a new boat or upgrade an old one, we can offer com- plete design and construction, from security patrol boats to high-speed ferries. To learn more call Peter Duclos at 508 676-8596 or visit: www.gladding-hearn.com. The 747 of our fleet T he U.S. Coast Guard appreciates the vigilance, pro- fessionalism and patriotism of the maritime industry in maintaining security standards set forth in the MTSA regulations. Maritime security is a shared respon- sibility in the effort to keep our nation’s ports, vessels and facilities secure from attacks of terrorism. The Coast Guard thanks company, vessel and facility security officers who remain vigilant on the waterfront every day; nothing is more important in our efforts to protect the vital shores and waterways of our country. MTSA was enacted to help ac- complish this goal. The cornerstone of MTSA is the security plan. MTSA requires every applicable vessel and facility to perform a security assessment, which identifies vulnerabilities, de- termines possible modes of attack, and the likelihood and consequences of such attacks. Once this is completed, a Vessel Security Plan (VSP) or a Facility Security Plan (FSP) is created to mitigate those vulnerabilities and to account for any weaknesses found in current operations. Alternative Security Programs (ASPs) were discussed early in the MTSA rule development. Comments regarding “industry standards” were published in the Federal Register, Vol. 68, No. 126, suggesting that alternatives to VSPs and FSPs were needed to ensure compliance, yet allow for the unique operations and requirements within some specific industries. The Coast Guard placed the decision to accept alternatives at the Commandant level, ensuring consistency and retention of control over U.S. flag adminis- tration obligations to the International Ship & Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code. The Passenger Vessel Association was the second industry organization to receive Commandant- approval for an ASP that could be used by their members in good standing. Today there are more domestic vessels operating under an ASP than are operating under a vessel- specific Vessel Security Plan (VSP); approximately 7,200 use ASPs with approximately 3,300 utilizing a VSP. The Coast Guard Headquarters Office of Port and Facility Compliance (CG-FAC) collects and analyzes data to learn how Coast Guard inspectors and facility operators can improve security. Typical deficiencies found during in- spections of vessels that operate under an ASP include: 1) drills and exercises, 2) annual audits, 3) records and docu- mentation, 4) access and restricted areas control. What value is this to you? How are you supposed to use this informa- tion to improve your security posture, either as a vessel security officer or a person with security duties? To help you develop answers to these questions, a list of deficiencies was compiled based on their narratives. We recommend you consider this information when implementing your ASP, performing an annual audit, conducting a new security as- sessment, preparing for an inspection and/or working on a Port Security Grant application. Overall, industry has achieved a very high rate of com- pliance with these regulations. There were approximately 15,300 vessel compliance inspections conducted in calendar year 2015, which resulted in approximately 3,700 deficien- cies. Drills and exercises were the number one cited deficien- cy for vessels operating under anASP. This could be because they were not conducted in a timely manner, or because the vessel security officer (VSO) did not record them as required by their ASP. The information below is taken from compliance reports that were entered into the Coast Guard Marine Information Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA) of 2002: Measuring the Effectiveness of Alternative Security Progams By Betty McMenemy, U.S. Coast Guard